The Wraith's Icy Heart: Brightening Light of the Kaleidoscope
---- ---- "If you do not want to be trampled, just get up off of the floor." --- Cold, dark, and dreary described the weather atop one of the frozen peaks in the . A robed figure, however, seemed to be unfazed by the horrendous conditions. The ensuing blizzard beat down upon the face of the summit, and the wind howled all around him. Keshin had come to this place to overlook his former home; the place he had grown up in. It all started here in . From his position on the mountain, he could barely see the village through the swirling snow. Clenching his fist, he would catch a large snowflake in his hand, and crush it with the force from his grip. He wondered what life would have been like if he had stayed in Shimogakure; would he be able to go back if he wished? However, his thoughts would be interrupted by the sudden presence he felt. Turning a bit, he could feel souls; four of them to be exact. They were closing in on his location. Perhaps they were shinobi from Shimogakure? He was unsure. As he squinted his eyes, he tried to see through the blizzard but was unable to. His malignant chakra would begin to waft out into the area, and his Konkaku would cause the snow around him to swirl about. Closing his eyes for a moment, he would reopen them. Now, a purple glint clouded the once blue area of his eyes. Whoever was coming to meet him didn't belong; he'd end them quickly. One hour earlier... Hokage's office The Hokage looked at the genin that have assembled. "Team 38, thank you for coming so fast on such a short notice." The most prestigious genin was the one that replied to the Hokage for all of them. "It is our pleasure, Lord Hokage." "Yes... Nasuka Uchiha," he nodded. "As well as Yuzuha Minagami and Shigetsu Hōzuki. Jukan Nara, I assume you have received the details of the mission?" The black-haired teen nodded discreetly. "Of course, Lord Hokage. The details of our mission are classified due to this mission being an S-rank mission. From my understanding, however, the main objective of this mission to identify a rogue shinobi lurking around in the Land of Frost and if necessary, apprehend him or her." "Alright... It seems that a briefing isn't necessary," the man sighed as he sat back down. "Go and complete this mission, Jukan." "Yes sir!" Jukan yelped. He turned to his squad; each member nodded, asserting their readiness, knowing that one, two, or all of them might not make it back alive. They left the Hidden Leaf Village, traveling northwest, in the general direction as if they were traveling to Shimogakure (which they were). The redhead whispered, "Stop! I sense an extremely malicious chakra... That must be our target." They hid in the valley of a small hill. "It's a very strong chakra... I don't think the four of us is enough." "Shh, be quiet, Yuzuha," the Uchiha whispered back. "We're here on a mission not to lament at its difficulty." She then turns to her leader. "So... How are we doing this, Sensei?" "Let's wait for him to make a move first," he suggested. "I agree with Yuzuha, this chakra is quite potent." "Something's down there..." The specter would think to himself as the souls neared his position. "No reason to keep anyone waiting." With that, Keshin would calmly walk to the edge of the cliff he had situated himself on. From this position, he would be able clearly see his four aggressors as they came up the face of the mountain, and then plopped down behind a hill. Drawing in a cold breath, he began to speak. "Who are you? And what is it that you seek?" Keshin began; his sinister undertones would echo throughout the surrounding area. This, along with the howling gale force winds would create an air of evil intent. Squinting his eyes, he saw the forehead protector of the apparent squad leader. "Konoha..." He thought as his all-corrupting chakra would begin to haplessly leak out and pollute the air around him. Konoha had sent mere children to subdue him? Either they were desperate for some reason to get their hands on him, or they had no idea of what they were up against. He's already on us... As expected of an S-rank rogue, Jukan thought. I'm going to have to draw his attention... All of us combined won't be enough to subdue him. It looks like I'm going to die here... Jukan whispered, "Yuzuha, Shigetsu, Nasuka." His tone of voice was deathly serious. "I assume one of us is going to need to return to the village and report that we had identified him," Yuzuha replied. Nasuka shivered. "E-Even from here... He's from the Uchiha Clan! That is, no doubt, the Sharingan!" Shigetsu sighed. "Even more reason we cannot engage him... Sensei, I assume you will remain here as the decoy?" Jukan smiled. "You know me so well. Shigetsu, I'm sorry to say this but you are currently the weakest one here. Go report back to the village. Nasuka, Yuzuha, be her rear guard and help her retreat. I'll stand here alone..." "Sensei... If he is an Uchiha, you can't do this alone," Nasuka insisted. "We'll do this together. We'll use clones to help Shigetsu." Nasuka put her index and middle fingers together in a Seal of Confrontation in both hands before making a cross with it. "Shadow Clone Technique," she whispered. Yuzuha wove the Dragon seal and made several clones out of ice. "Shigetsu needs to at least be the one to go," she stated. "We'll stay here." Yuzuha wove another sign and immediately made the icy cold wind pick up, hoping to blind the adversary's vision. She also made a preemptive move which she knew wouldn't do much. " ." The darts formed in the air above her and fired one after another at the opponent. With his malefic eyes, he would gaze down upon the group. They seemed to be conversing amongst themselves about something; perhaps strategy, or simply mourning the fact they were in over their heads. Suddenly, his vision was distorted by the intensifying blizzard. He was unable to see clearly, yet, could perfectly visualize his opponent's souls. One was fleeing, most likely to get help, and the others were, so far, stationary. All was still for a moment, that is until one of them began their assault on the specter. A barrage of icy projectiles was speeding towards him. He could already feel the disturbance in the frigid atmosphere as they sliced the surrounding air. While he floated several different ideas, all with their own means of deflecting the incoming attack, he simply executed the easiest of his options. Extending his right arm, he would release a concentrated blast of psychokinetic energy. The sheer power of the forceful attack would send the young girl's pitiful attempt to kill her opponent flying off into the distance. After the icy petals clattered down the side of the mountain, Keshin would leap from his perch down to the level of the shinobi. "Surely, you weren't trying to land a decisive blow, were you?" The man chuckled in his raspy voice. "Such a crude usage of your bloodline will not be tolerated." The man would reach for one of the two weapons that sat fastened to his back. With his curious double-bladed sword in hand, he would make a gesture towards the leader. "You're the leader?" He asked, almost mocking the boy. "You look like you could be fucking with these girls here." Lowering his hood, he would allow his spiky white hair to blow about in the intense wind. "If you had the nerve to disturb me here, I hope for your sakes you have more then just courage." The cloaked figure, not interested in making the first move, shifted himself to where his right foot was in front, and his left in the back. Extending his right arm forwards, he held Muramasa horizontally in front of him. His eyes, void with emotion, would seemingly pierce the very soul of his adversaries. With a calm breath, he would command his opponents to engage him with a single word: "Come." With Shigetsu long gone carrying some crude information about this rogue ninja with her, Jukan was ready to accept death. He wove the Rat sign and activated his Shadow Sewing Technique. Nasuka and Yuzuha both performed the Shadow Clone Technique and Water Clone Technique, respectively, making six of each. Nasuka proceeded to close her eyes and open them again, the crimson glint of her Sharingan shining in her eyes. Taking advantage of the deathly cold of their battleground, Yuzuha made a fist and summoned a cage of ice that instantly grew around the adversary, trapping him within. Yuzuha proceeded to take out her pipe and blew into it, releasing swaths of bubbles that surrounded the ice prison. Yuzuha kept her right hand ready to snap her fingers and detonate them on command if the wraith escapes. Nasuka summoned the winds into her hands, forging a sword completely out of the icy wind. Her clones all did the same and they waited after Yuzuha entrapped him in ice. Waited for their opponent to break out. Seeing the icy prison surround him, Keshin's eyes would go into overdrive. First, the man would have to take into consideration the cage; it was nice. Ice Release created frigid constructs that were able to withstand high-caliber Fire Release techniques. It would obviously be tough to break, but that was of little concern at the moment. His opponents had set up several other attacks in hopes of ending their foe. The second thing Keshin would come to see were Jukan's shadowy tendrils. His purple eyes would read the course of the technique, and analyze it down to the smallest iota. There was a simple way to get out of the cage; it was right in front of him. As Jukan's shadow neared him, he would wave his hand and activate his own shadow technique. At first, the Nara boy's attack would seem to be unchanged. It continued its course and appeared to have succeeded in shutting the man down. However, when it closed in on him, it responded to Keshin's influence, and the control Jukan possessed over the shadow was completely and utterly severed. When the blades neared him, it cut through the front of the cage and looked as if it were about to rip right through Keshin. But after the tendrils entered the construct, they would suddenly surround Keshin and disperse in all directions in the form of arc-shaped blades. This would result in the cage being violently bisected; allowing Keshin to step right out. As for the bubbles, a peculiar wind would swirl about; causing Yuzuha's bubbles to stir in its wake. The curious power of the technique would remove Yuzuha's authority over the bubbles; this was shown when Keshin reached up to pop one with his finger. The same wind that had devastated the bubbles would surround the clones that the girls had made; causing them to dispel. With his eyes burning with an unfiltered murderous light, he would reach out with his hand; it was outstretched towards the one called Jukan. Making a gripping gesture with his hand, he would focus his chakra on the boy. This would potentially result in him being choked by the telekinetic force that would come to bear down on his throat. Before making such a move, however, Keshin took several things into account. The first was that he could perfectly visualize the boy's soul, which meant this was indeed the real Jukan and not a clone. Secondly, the attack wasn't one that could simply be evaded, the boy would have to actually tear apart the chakra focused around his throat. As long as Keshin could fight off the girls with one hand, he would be fine. Seeing this, Yuzuha began infusing chakra. She intended to form her clan's golden chains that has enough power to bind a . She knew that it was either do or die. This man might be a match for the Hokage himself. She shouted, "Let go of him!" Seeing that his attack had landed, and the panicky expression on the boy's face, Keshin smiled. Konoha had obviously declined in their production of fine shinobi. Either that or this team was simply sub-average. Turning his head, he saw the incoming chains that belonged to the young girl. Extending the arm that held Muramasa, he seized the ends of the chains with his psychokinetic energy and violently jerked them away from their course and off to the side. "Get that out of here." He mumbled as he clenched the fist that held the energy around Jukan's throat. With the boy already under his influence, nothing would stop him from choking the life out from him. With a final trembling of his fist, he dropped an unconscious Jukan onto the ground. "So... are you done?" Keshin asked, mocking the girls. Meanwhile... "Yo, that cloud looks like a motherfuckin' dog man." A wide-eyed Umarekawari said while pointing at the last white, fluffy cloud in view. "Can you please focus?" Gekko asked, straightening his glasses. "Jukan and his squad could very well be in over their heads..." "And?" Umarekawari inquired. "Is that bad? They're just a team of smartasses." Sighing, Gekko flapped his scarf behind him and continued walking up the side of the mountain. He was worried; if Jukan and his team were fighting who he thought they were... "Umare..." He said, his tone much more serious. "What if it's him?" "You mean...Keshin?" Umarekawari asked as his laid-back demeanor suddenly disappeared. "If you still lack motivation, think of the horrified look on Kameko's face when he ran sensei through. Her death affected you as well, right?" Before the boy could respond, his thoughts would suddenly be interrupted by the heavy breaths of a dashing Shigetsu. "H-Hey, Shigetsu!" Umarekawari yelled as he ran to meet the girl. "Where is everyone else?" Shigetsu's face was lined with tears. She immediately wiped them away when the boy called out to her. "I was sent ahead to deliver information on the rogue ninja we encountered." Umarekawari and Gekko had assumed that since there were multiple Nasuka and Yuzuhas, these had to be clones. With his right arm outstretched, Gekko absorbed the doppelgangers' chakra, causing them to dispel. "Did you get his na-" The boy tried to start, but was suddenly cut short by the unruly aura that was seeping out from something above. "Oh fuck..." Umarekawari said, already uneasy. "Shigetsu, just listen...Jukan made a huge mistake." He started. "While sending you away might have seemed like a good idea, it really doesn't make a difference. That guy he's fighting is named Keshin Amanojaku. Keshin, after absorbing a bit of the energy that comes off of your soul, can track you no matter how far you go...so fuck what he said, you're gonn come with us and provide backup." Shigetsu shook her head. "No, I have to return to the village to provide info on this Keshin Amanojaku. You two go on ahead. However, even with your powers, I don't think we can bring him down..." Grabbing Shigetsu by her shoulder, he drew her in close. A shadow crept across his face as he began to speak. "It doesn't matter, I know what he can do. He... he killed our sensei. Like I said; it will not make a difference. Konoha is too far, and without all of us, he'll blow right by Jukan." The air around them began to seemingly tremble with fear as a corrupt aura filled the air. "Just trust me, Shigetsu...it won't work. Follow us." With that, Gekko and Umarekawari would run past her. Shigetsu sighed. She wove a sign and summoned a water clone of herself before handing the scroll of information to it and charging it with the instruction of returning to the Leaf. She then instructed Nasuka and Yuzuha's clone to do the same. Shigetsu herself doubled back and chased after Gekko and Umarekawari. She yelled after them, "So?! Do you guys have an attack plan or something?!" But before Gekko could respond, the dark figure that was Keshin jumped from up above, and descended down to the level of the new aggressors. When he hit the ground, he landed atop the clone of Shigetsu, causing it to disperse into frigid water. Stooping down, he picked up the scroll. "So, what exactly is your village gonna do?" He asked as he examined the information contained within. After seeing all there was to see, he tossed it to Shigetsu. "I'm not concerned about your village; bring that scroll back." Keshin mockingly said. "Send more to die at my hands; you'll be a hero...just like Jukan." A look of concern began to show itself on Gekko's face. "W-What did you do to Jukan?" The boy inquired in his shaky voice. "I dunno." The specter responded as he pointed his sword at the boy. "You tell me."